Under the mistletoe
by Ninjalinda
Summary: The mistletoe tradition is strong at Sodor, and there are mistletoes hanging around everywhere at the island. But what happens when a certain someone decides to use this to frighten the other engines...? Will anyone dare to kiss the meanest engine of them all?
Authors note: I don't own any of the characters, they all belong to HIT Entertainment. And please excuse my poor english, I'm norwegian and didn't pay too much attention in my english class...

* * *

Under the mistletoe

* * *

They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight,

shunting trucks and hauling freight.

Red and green and brown and blue,

they're the Really Useful Crew.

All with different roles to play,

round Tidmoth Sheds or far away.

Down the hills and round the bends,

Thomas and his friends.

Thomas, he's the cheeky one.

James is vain but lots of fun.

Percy pulls the mail on time.

Gordon thunders down the line.

Emily really knows her stuff.

Henry toots and huffs and puffs.

Edward wants to help and share.

Toby, well let's just say, he's square!

They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight,

shunting trucks and hauling freight.

Red and green and brown and blue,

they're the Really Useful Crew.

All with different roles to play,

round Tidmoth Sheds or far away.

Down the hills and round the bends,

Thomas and his friends.

They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight,

shunting trucks and hauling freight.

Red and green and brown and blue,

they're the Really Useful Crew.

All with different roles to play,

round Tidmoth Sheds or far away.

Down the hills and round the bends,

Thomas and his friends!

* * *

"The Island of Sodor is a world of wonder. There are faces and places that are old and new. There are bridges and tunnels that engines puff through. There are hilltops and clifftops to climb and explore. There are rivers, and railways, and much, much more. All on The Island of Sodor."

* * *

The winter holiday were closing in, and the inhabitants of Sodor were busy putting up their Christmas decorations. Even the engines, both steamies and diesels, had decorations in and around their sheds. At the stations there were Christmas trees and mistletoes, lights and garlands.

Speaking of mistletoes, the legend had it that if an engine parked beneath a mistletoe it was obliged to kiss the first engine it saw before midnight the same day, or else it would be haunted by bad luck the rest of its life. This was usually a fun and cheery activity among the engines, staff and passengers. Blushing and laughter followed this tradition.

Until Diesel 10 found out that this was also a great way for intimidating the steamies…

"Let's see how fun you think this mistletoe thing is now, silly steamies…" he snorted as he ripped down the mistletoe hanging at Knapford station with his claw. He held it in front of his face, studying it, then he rattled away, parking himself at a siding near the station. He grinned evil.

Not long after, a small lavender tank engine chugged into the station. Rosie was feeling really merry, knowing that Thomas was following her so they both could meet under the mistletoe. To her surprise there was no mistletoe hanging above her. Frowning, she looked over at the track Thomas soon should arrive on, not finding any mistletoe there either.

"Looking for something?" a deep, sinister voice asked. Rosie jumped as she noticed Diesel 10 at the siding, but she managed to keep her composure. She knew very well that there was nothing he enjoyed more than scaring steamies senseless. She didn't want to give him that pleasure.

"This perhaps?" the warship grinned as he flung his claw over her, dangling the mistletoe right above her. Rosie gasped, her face flushed red. At the same moment, Thomas chugged into the station, he froze. "Cinders and ashes!"

Rosie pulled herself together, and wheezed. "Forget it, Diesel 10! There is no way you're going to get kissed by me!"

Diesel 10's thundering laughter sounded throughout the area. "Well, that's your choice! You know the legend. Ha ha ha!"

With that, the diesel slid away, leaving the two shocked steamies behind.

"Oh no, Thomas… what am I going to do? I don't want bad luck for the rest of my time!" Rosie cried, glancing sideways at the little blue engine.

Thomas shuddered, if it had been any other engine than Diesel 10, he would have laughed of the matter. But he had no doubt that Diesel 10 didn't do this for a kiss or for the sake of the tradition. The diesel was nothing else than plain mean!

"Ugh… I really don't know, Rosie. I guess you have to…" he grimaced as if he was going to barf. "… kiss him."

Rosie whimpered. "But he's only doing that to lure me close enough to reach he with his claw! And nobody knows what will happen then… I would rather kiss both Arry and Bert, or even Diesel instead of HIM!"

Thomas bit his lip. "Hmm… I guess we have until midnight to find out what to do…"

* * *

Percy pulled his mail coaches to into the station. He spotted Diesel 10 at the siding, the diesel looked at him with a sly smile and mischievous look in his eyes.

"What is he up to now?" Percy thought to himself and decided to ignore him.

Then he heard a rustling noise over his funnel and looked up. Mistletoe?!

"Oh no…" he whinced, feeling how his wheels got shaky from fear. He sped up and rushed away, forgetting all about his mail. The mailman stood at the station, yelling after him to make him come back.

Diesel 10 laughed maniacally. He had not had this much fun in years.

* * *

Soon, almost every engine on Sodor had been victim of Diesel 10's menacing prank. All of them was scared out of their mind by the thought of what they had to do before midnight, having a hard time to focus on their jobs.

As time kept ticking by, they got more and more nervous and caused confusion and delay. Percy and Rosie broke down and cried openly.

"Christmas is ruined!" Gordon muttered. "This is outrageous!"

James backed into his berth, not looking happy. He was the last one who had ended under Diesel 10's mistletoe, now he was red all over, not only his body.

"We have to think of something to get out of this…" Thomas said, staring at the Christmas tree by the turntable.

"Then hurry up! It's getting darker." Percy winced.

"I don't want to kiss Diesel 10!" Emily cried.

"I don't want to kiss a diesel at all!" James steamed.

"O, the indignity!" Gordon puffed.

* * *

Later, Lady stopped at the station. She waited patiently as Burnett and Lily went to get a package.

"How about a kiss, my Lady?" a too familiar voice boomed beside her. She noticed something above her and looked up, seeing a claw holding a mistletoe, shaking it teasingly.

"In your dreams, Diesel 10!" she peeped angry, but shuddered. She knew she had to… or else she didn't know what was going to happen, being cursed by bad luck. She didn't know what was worse…

"I'll dream about it until midnight!" Diesel 10 chuckled with an evil grin. "After that, I will dream about your bad luck!"

The warship laughed and trailed away, leaving her behind with all her thoughts. Kiss her archenemy or bad luck for the rest of her life. The choice would have been easy if it weren't for the claw and their previous run-ins. She had no doubt that this was just a trick to lure her close enough to destroy her!

"If only there was a way to make him freeze for a while, so I could get that kiss without risking my life…" she mumbled thoughtfully. "And help all the other engines on Sodor avoid bad luck too…"

Then an idea popped up in her funnel. She lit up and chugged her way to Tidmouth sheds. The engines were clearly upset, talked over one another, not even noticing her coming. She stopped at the turntable and let out a loud whistle.

"Listen up, everyone!" she yelled. Everyone became silent and looked at her.

"I know midnight is getting close… and I know that none of you wants to kiss Diesel 10!" she spoke loudly.

"Right you are!" James huffed.

"Shush!" Henry said. "Let's hear her out!"

"And nobody wants to risk having bad luck for the rest of their lives either." Lady continued.

"Get to the point!" Diesel grumbled from a siding beside the shed. For once, he was on the steamies side. He had also ended up under the fearsome claw with the mistletoe. Even though he probably could give Diesel 10 a kiss without risking his life, he was sure the menacing warship wouldn't like it, and he didn't want to find out what would happen if he did.

"We all know that Diesel 10 isn't doing this for a kiss itself." Lady looked from one to the other. "He either does it to lure us close enough to hurt us, or he wants us to end up with the curse of bad luck."

"Either way it's going to end bad for all us who was under that mistletoe!" Rosie whimpered.

"So we need to disable his claw…" Edward said thoughtfully, trying to figure out how. "The only thing is, there is no chains or ropes strong enough to tie him up, is it? If we could tie the claw down somehow…"

"Or rip it off!" James muttered.

"No no no!" Lady said. "We're not using violence against another engine!"

"But he does!"

"Yeah, but we're not going to sink to that level!" Edward shouted, agreeing with Lady.

"And even if we managed to tie down that claw of his, he could still crash into us or derail us!" Henry said.

Everyone fell silent again. Lady sighed.

"Are you guys ready to hear me out now?" She said, looking at them all.

"Sure…" everyone mumbled.

"Gold dust!" she beamed. "Magic! If we can pour some over him, he will be unable to move for at least two hours! It takes about half an hour to start working, but…"

"Brilliant idea!" Gordon lit up, eyeing a possibility to get out of this mess.

"And exactly HOW are we going to get close enough to pour it over him?" Thomas wanted to know.

"I haven't quite figured that out yet…" Lady said, looking down.

"Hey! How about the wash?" Diesel bursted out. "He's going to have a wash down after he's done working at the scrapyard today. Would the gold dust work if it is mixed into the water?"

"I suppose so." Lady smiled. "Good idea, Diesel!"

"I have my moments." He grunted, but his mouth curled up in a proud smile. He wasn't exactly used to being praised.

"Let's get to it then! We got no time to waste!" Rosie whined. "We need to mix that dust into his water!"

* * *

All engines was gathered near one of the stations, they had calculated that after being washed, it would take Diesel 10 about half an hour to get there, and he had to pass through there to get home to the dieselworks.

"Let's hope he hasn't decided to go for a drive, or take another way home…" Emily said concerned.

"Why would he do that?" Gordon puffed. "It's not like he enjoys the nature or the birds singing…"

"You're right…"

Then they heard an air horn, deep and sinister in distance, followed by the rumbling of an engine approaching.

"Here he comes!" Percy whispered, backing behind a coal car to hide himself.

"Everyone, quiet!" Henry whispered from his hideout.

Diesel 10 thundered towards the station, suddenly feeling a tingling sensation in his whole body. Confused he frowned as his motor started to slow down its rpm. He tried to speed up, but he just got slower and slower.

"What the..?!" he muttered as he slid to a soft stop at the station. The station was quite busy, and there was lots of passengers standing on the platform, waiting for their train to arrive.

"Diesel 10?! You need to get out of the way! Gordon's express is arriving soon!" the Fat Controller came walking across the platform.

"But I…"

"No but! Get a move on! You're causing confusion and delay!" Sir Topham Hatt boomed.

"But I…"

"I need to go get my lunch. I expect you to be gone when I get back!" The Fat Controller walked into the station building.

"But, sir… I…"

Diesel 10 looked puzzled as he tried to get his motor running. Not managing to get any response from the frozen machinery. "It was looked over this morning! What the…?!"

Then he noticed Pinchy laying lifeless on his roof.

"Pinchy?" he tried to move it, but the claw didn't react. "What's going on?"

Then suddenly Rosie chugged towards him, with a mischievous look in her eyes. "Merry Christmas, Diesel 10!" she chuckled as she gave him a soft kiss, straight on his mouth.

Diesel 10's face flushed red. Everyone at the platform had seen this and laughed. Rosie chugged away laughing.

"Get back here, you little…!" he growled angry, trying to sped after ger and get his claw to snap at her. But nothing happened.

Now, all the engines that had been hiding nearby rolled forward, kissing him one after the other while laughing. Steamies and diesels giving the fearsome warship one kiss wetter than the other. Daisy and a couple of others had even gotten some lipstick applied, to leave huge, red lipmarks on his cheek. Diesel 10 cursed and sputtered, trying to avoid it, but unable to move, nobody was frightened by him. He blushed red from the humiliation, even some of the passengers on the platform came up to kiss him. Kids climbed on him and patted him like a pet. Some even took photos!

"I'm no cute and friendly pet! Get off!" he shouted, in vain.

The last one who came up to kiss him was Lady. Her eyes sparkled vividly from mischief. Diesel 10 growled, but was shut up as she placed her lips over his, kissing him a little bit longer than the others. "Merry Christmas, D!" she blinked as she broke away from the kiss, getting an annoyed growl in return.

Then they all chugged away, leaving Diesel 10 behind as the Fat Controller came back.

"Diesel 10! Didn't I tell you to move?!" Topham scolded.

"I can't!" the warship sneered, tired of the whole situation. "I can't get my motor running!"

"Then why didn't you say so?" The Fat Controller wondered.

"I tried, but you cut me off, you fat, old..."

"Don't use that tone to me!" The fat controller signaled to Diesel who were shunting coal trucks nearby. "Diesel! Can you shunt Diesel 10 to the Dieselworks for repair when you're done with those coal trucks?"

Diesel snickered. "Of course, Sir!" He glanced over to the furious Diesel 10 and pretended to blow a kiss in his direction, blowing all of Diesel 10's fuses at once. The warship litterally fumed of rage.

Right then, the gold dust lost its power. Diesel 10 snapped his claw viciously towards Diesel, then thundering down the line, away from the giggling crowd at the station. His face was still red as he arrived at the dieselworks at the end of the day. All the other diesels were gathered in the main building too, giggling and laughing as he entered.

"Had a nice day, D10?"

"Your lips were soooo soft!"

"I think he wants more, does anyone have a mistletoe?"

"Those lipstick marks looks so good on you!"

"SHUT UP!" he sneered as the turntable brought him to the upper level. But it only made the diesels laugh more.

"Look! We got you a little gift, a photo reminder of this lovely day!" Diesel snickered and looked at a framed photo hanging on the wall above Diesel 10's shed. It showed Lady kissing the warship with passion. "Merry christmas, Diesel 10, or should we call you "D"?"

Diesel 10 shot out his claw and ripped it off the wall, crunching it up to tiny pieces before dropping it on the floor with a frustrated growl. Then he backed into his shed, closing the doors while the diesels laughter echoed through the dieselworks.

And no one would ever forget the day Sodor kissed Diesel 10.

* * *

They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight,

shunting trucks and hauling freight.

Red and green and brown and blue,

they're the Really Useful Crew.

All with different roles to play,

round Tidmoth Sheds or far away.

Down the hills and round the bends,

Thomas and his friends.

Thomas, he's the cheeky one.

James is vain but lots of fun.

Percy pulls the mail on time.

Gordon thunders down the line.

Emily really knows her stuff.

Henry toots and huffs and puffs.

Edward wants to help and share.

Toby, well let's just say, he's square!

They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight,

shunting trucks and hauling freight.

Red and green and brown and blue,

they're the Really Useful Crew.

All with different roles to play,

round Tidmoth Sheds or far away.

Down the hills and round the bends,

Thomas and his friends.

They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight,

shunting trucks and hauling freight.

Red and green and brown and blue,

they're the Really Useful Crew.

All with different roles to play,

round Tidmoth Sheds or far away.

Down the hills and round the bends,

Thomas and his friends!


End file.
